Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Fit or Die

I
appear to be incapable of knitting anything - even an unfitted,
rectangular vest - without doing the math. And thank the knitting goddess, really. Cuz if
I hadn't done a gauge swatch and an hour of recon, the Die Cut Vest
would be unwearable, I'm pretty sure.

Quick
detour: No, I haven't finished the Karner Wrap, the world's most boring
and endless project. It seems I'll need to make this my project to knit
when I'm working on other
projects that I actually enjoy less. On the plus side, it's really
gorgeous and I can see how it's going to be very useful. And chic. I
don't think it much matters if it takes me another couple of months to
finish the second half.

But back to the Die Cut Vest...

Die Cut Vest by Sara Morris

The
most difficult thing about this vest is getting your head around the
construction. It's knit along the vertical plane from centre front lace
panel to centre front lace panel. (Well, there's a seam down the middle
of the back, if you choose to follow the instructions, so technically
you knit 2 halves and then join.) My point is that your vertical gauge
affects your horizontal plane (width) and your horizontal gauge affects
your vertical plane (length). It's a bit of a mind fuck.

What further
adds to the challenge - if you don't get gauge - is that the pattern is
written with a combo of length by row count and length by inches (remember, affecting
width) instructions - so you can't just sub your own gauge into the
equation, change the number of rows you work, and assume it's all going
to be ok.

When
you look at this vest, you might think - as I really, really wanted to:
There's no shaping to speak of. It's perfect for winging it!

Do not be
fooled.

Reason Why You Shouldn't Wing It No. 1: Thing
is, my gauge is VERY off. And from the looks of many versions I've
seen, so is everyone else's. The pattern dictates 7.5 stitches and 10.25
rows per inch on a 3mm needle. Recognizing that I knit loosely, I
swatched on a 2.75 mm needle
and my gauge was still only 6 st and 9 rows, after blocking. That's
crazy off - on a smaller needle.

In real terms, what this means is that my vest dimensions would be 6 inches wider and 4 inches longer than the pattern's had I just started knitting with my "predicted" smaller needle size. If I'd gone with
the original (3 mm) needle, I can't imagine how bad the end product would have been?!

I
should say that the fabric is very dense, even having only gone down
one needle size. I'm loath to go down another, but it's really my best
recourse. Cuz even if I go down another size, I can only hope that I'll nudge my (very off) gauge to 6.75 stitches and 9.75 rows per inch. Happily, that would allow
me to achieve the exact length I
want - 18.5 inches (2.5 inches longer than the pattern specifies). In
terms of vertical gauge (determining width), I'd be able to cut 3 of
those extra 6 inches of width. I'd deal with the remaining 3 inches by
removing width from the centre back of the vest. In this case, that's as easy as
cutting
about 15 rows from each side of that centre seam. Gotta love less work!

Reason Why You Shouldn't Wing It No. 2: Here's
the thing. I intend to make the size 32. The pattern specifies that
this size refers to a full
bust circumference of 32 inches. (Side Bar: As you know, I'm ok with
lots of negative wearing ease, even when the garment is supposed to have
none.) The ridiculous thing about this vest, however - and please
review the totally confusing pattern schematic to confirm this for
yourself - is that the size
32 actually knits up to a bust circumference of 41". The designer has
added 9 inches of ease into the pattern and doesn't mention it
anywhere??? If you want to know, you've got to dig around the schematic
or read the instructions and devise a schematic of your own. I did devise my own schematic based on instructions because the one provided is really inadequate.

It's
no wonder that most every Raveler's finished version (except for the
one modeled in the relevant issue of Knit.Wear) looks
like a sloppy, oversized mess. Even if you get gauge this thing is
likely bigger than you'd want it to be. Add to that the predisposition
of the average knitter to a) avoid swatching on unfitted items and b) consider only
horizontal gauge when they do swatch and it's no surprise.

Next
up: I swatch for the second time, on the 2.5mm needle, hopefully to get gauge that
will permit me to make this garment. Remember, I don't need even need to get
pattern gauge. I just have to manage to gain .75 of a stitch per inch
and .75 of a row per inch. This should be interesting... Oh, and wait till I tell you about the yarn I've chosen.

12 comments:

Sounds like a bit of a badly written pattern tbh! But I have faith you can tackle it. I too cannot escape mathsing out any project I undertake. But it saves you in the long run! Be sure you don't go down to too tight a gauge. I did that and had to frog the whole thing when I admitted it was super uncomfortable to knit and the fabric was gross too...

Rather than force a small needle and a tight fabric for the "right" gauge. I'd use swatching to figure out what makes a pleasing fabric to -me-. Then since it's unfitted it'd be a piece of cake to simply recalculate how many stitches you need for the size you prefer. I know, I know, but you can use a calculator and it'd come out so much better :-).

I'd be worried about the final fabric being too stiff/tight if you do down more to get gauge. I could see this being very unflattering if the knit didn't cling to the bust, then flow/drape down onto the abdomen.

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